Samsung Electronics and Lenovo, both of which have ambitious goals for tablet shipments for 2014, both released new tablets in May 2014. Pricing of the new tablet from Samsung is still far higher than those of its competitors and is expected to impact the Korea-based vendor's shipment performance.Lenovo released its first 8-inch entry-level tablet and the device's price-performance ratio is also better than those of its tablets from the previous year.Lenovo was the most aggressive vendor in terms of tablets with phone functions in 2013. In 2014, the top-4 Android tablet brand vendors, including Acer, all invested in the phone-tablet segment. Asustek is trying to expand in China with its entry-level Fonepad 7, while Acer is promoting its tablets with phone functions aggressively in emerging markets.However, brand vendors are unlikely to achieve rapid growth in the segment, which is mostly being dominated by regional vendors.As for Windows-based tablets, with Asustek's entry-level T100 successfully turning consumers' attention back to Windows-based detachable tablet devices, Acer has released its new Switch 10 with Acer Snap Hinge design. However, lacking a strong price-performance ratio, the Switch 10 may face pressure from successors of the T100 in the near future, Digitimes Research believes.

Japan- and Korea-based operators have been aggressively promoting their LTE services. Their counterparts In Latin America and Europed have also been accelerating the process towards commercialization for LTE. The number of LTE users worldwide surpassed 200 million in 2013, up 130 million from 2012. Digitimes Research expects the number of users to reach 335 million in 2014 as US-based Sprint and T-mobile USA are both expanding their LTE networks, while China has recently started operating its enterprise TD-LTE network.In 2013, the number of enterprise LTE networks worldwide reached 260. Among them, the number of enterprise TD-LTE network doubled from the previous year. However, TD/FD-LTE dual-mode networks' proportion in overall TD-LTE network dropped 30pp from the previous year, according to figures from Global Mobile Supplier Association (GSA). The trend shows that demand for multi-mode networks is still rather weak, according to Digitimes Research's analysis.In the end market, there were a total of 1,371 device models supporting LTE in 2013, a growth of 106% on year. Of these devices, smartphones continued to see significant growth, while data-processing applications such as dougle, MiFi and customer premise equipment (CPE) saw declines.Taiwan's LTE data-processing product shipments were about four million units in 2013 and are expected to reach six million units in 2014 despite the volume in the first half of 2014 failing to achieve strong growth. CPE will stay the main shipment contributor of Taiwan players. Since LTE-based smart mobile device's growing demand is impacting dongle and MiFi sales, some Taiwan players have shifted their capacities to manufacturing LTE modules for mobile devices.

With interesting designs, superior pricing and an innovative marketing strategy, China-based smartphone vendor Xiaomi was able to become the top local brand in China in the first quarter of 2014, according to the recently published Digitimes Research China Smartphone Market and Industry Tracker report.According to the Digitimes Research report, Xiaomi saw its quarterly shipment total surpass the 10 million mark for the first time, and the vendor only trailed international brands Samsung and Apple for smartphone shipments in the local China market.While Xiaomi has targeted several market segments with its attractive designs, the company has significantly exceeded market expectations in the below-CNY1,000 low-cost segment with its flagship Redmi product. Xiaomi's sales have surged over the past few quarters, with its shipments outpacing other local players such as ZTE, Huawei, Coolpad, and Lenovo.Xiaomi has also maintained a strong marketing buzz in the local smartphone market by focusing its sales through its online platform and only making the Redmi phone available certain days of the week, providing those who are able to purchase the device with a feeling of exclusivity, despite the low price of the model.Digitimes Research expects Xiaomi to continue with its success in the second quarter with double digit shipment growth, though its quarterly growth rate will be much lower than it was in the previous two quarters.

With the China smartphone market maturing, application processor (AP) providers are facing new challenges to increase their market share. According to the latest Digitimes Research China Smartphone AP Tracker report, beginning in the the fourth quarter of 2012, annual growth and quarterly growth for smartphone AP shipments both rapidly slowed.In the first quarter of 2014, overall smartphone AP shipments declined 4.2% quarter-on-quarter in the China market, with slowing shipment momentum for MediaTek and Spreadtrum being the primary causes, noted Digitimes Research. MediaTek's shipments were affected by a decline in its TD and EDGE product shipments, an immature LTE product strategy, as well as seasonal adjustments.In the second quarter, while Digitimes Research believes MediaTek will see its shipments rebound to double-digit growth, its two main competitors, Qualcomm and Spreadtrum, will see even stronger growth, causing MediaTek's overall market share to drop below 50% for the first time since the second quarter of 2013.According to the Digtimes Research China Smartphone AP Tracker report, MediaTek is benefittting from the strong performance of its 8-core products but the company is at a disadvantage in the growing LTE market, as it currently lacks a single-chip solution.

Despite the impact of seasonality and inventory adjustments at PC and consumer electronics product clients, the top-three Taiwan-based wafer foundry houses still managed to ramp up their combined revenues by 0.4% on year to US$6.15 billion in the first quarter of 2014, buoyed by replenishment orders for smartphone solutions from Qualcomm, Broadcom and MediaTek, according to Digitimes Research.However, inventory value at major IC suppliers around the globe saw a sequential drop to a nine-quarter low in the quarter. Along with an expected economic recovery, chip vendors are expected to begin to replenish their inventories in the second quarter, which will be instrumental to boosting revenues at the top-three foundry houses in the quarter, said Digitimes Research.To cope with strong demand from the smartphone and tablet sectors, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has continued to ramp up the capacity of its 28nm process, and will start generating revenues from its 20nm production node in the second quarter of 2014. Meanwhile, the 28nm PolySiON process at United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) will also start contributing to its revenue growth in the second quarter.As a result, the ratio of revenues generated from 28nm and below processes of the top-three foundry houses will increase significantly in the second quarter, along with an improvement in ASP.With the completion of annual maintenance at TSMC and UMC in the second quarter, newly added 12-inch fab capacities, as well as from an 8-inch fab from Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS), the top-three foundry houses are expected to roll out 6.48 million 8-inch equivalent wafers in the second quarter, with the capacity utilization rates of their advanced processes ramping to 98.2%, Digitimes Research estimated.Overall, the top-three foundry companies are expected to see combined revenues soar 20.4% sequentially to US$7.37 billion in the second quarter of 2014, with the growth momentum to continue into the second half of 2014.

April average retail price for 7W LED light bulbs (equivalent to 40W incandescent ones) in the China market rose by 5.9% on month to CNY35.9 (US$5.7), while 9W (equivalent to 60W incandescent) models saw an 1.4%, according to Digitimes Research.Average retail price for 40W- and 60W-equivalent LED light bulbs in the Japan market in April stood at JPY1,668 (US$16) and JPY2,681 respectively, with the former rising on month by 1.5% and the latter by 3.3%, Digitimes Research indicated.April average retail prices for 40W- and 60W-equivalent LED light bulbs in other markets are: KRW14,215 (US$13.7, down 2.2% on month) and KRW16,355 (up 1.4%) in South Korea; US$19.2 (down 11.9%) and US$21.6 (down 1.8%) in the US; EUR13.4 (US$18.8, up 1.5%) and EUR14.6 (down 3.9%) in Europe.Osram 40W- and 60W-equivalent LED light bulbs available in the South Korea market had the highest average lumen-price ratios of 67.9lm/US$ and 110.2lm/US$ respectively in April. In terms of luminous efficiency, Toshiba 40W- and 60W-equivalent models for sale in the Japan market had the highest average levels of 74.6lm/W and 97.4lm/W respectively.

Intel is set to ship 40 million application processors (APs) for tablets in 2014, up 400% from the volume in 2013, though most market watchers believe the goal is rather difficult to achieve. Digitimes Research has found that Intel is currently placing its focus on penetrating into the Android tablet market and is persuading brand vendors and China white-box players to join its camp by offering subsidies and support from its China-based supply chain, which Intel has been nurturing.With Microsoft also seeing success for its detachable tablets with high price-performance ratios and set to become more aggressive in the entry-level Windows tablet segment in the second half, Digitimes Research expects the Windows on Intel platform to become another important contributor to Intel's tablet AP shipments for 2014.Digitimes Research expects Intel to ship 32 million tablet APs in 2014, achieving 80% of its goal.In terms of platform proportions, 60% of Intel's shipments will be adopted in Android-based models because the Android-on-Intel tablet is the main focus of Intel for 2014. Intel started offering technology support, marketing subsidies and CPU price cuts for Android-on-Intel tablets in the second half of 2013 and has been nurturing China's supply chain to provide low-price components.Currently, Android-on-Intel tablets' costs are already lower than those of the same level Android-on-ARM models. Asustek Computer has already turned to adopt Intel's platforms for all of its Android-based product lines, while many brand vendors and China white-box players have also been considering following suit.Since the Android tablet market's scale is far larger than that of Windows tablets, penetrating into the Android tablet market is much easier than expanding the Windows tablet market, Digitimes Research believes.Although only 40% of Intel's tablet APs will be used in Windows-based tablets, the volume will still grow significantly to 12.8 million units in 2014. The growth will be contributed mainly by two factors: Microsoft and Asustek's jointly developed T100, which successfully entered a market segment that other notebook and tablet vendors have never touched; and Microsoft's decision to offer free Windows for 9-inch and below mobile devices, which provides Microsoft with chances to cooperate with white-box supply chain to develop entry-level Windows tablets.Digitimes Research expects 65% of Intel's tablet AP shipments to go to brand vendors because their shipments are more stable and the two sides have been cooperating over notebook products for a long time.The remaining 35% will be shipped to China's white-box players. In addition to providing the same subsidies to white-box players, Intel is also investing in China's supply chain to gain white-box players' trust.

Samsung Display is expected to make nearly US$5 billion in capital expenditures for developing AMOLED panel technology, according to Digitimes Research.Samsung made nearly US$4 billion in expenditures in 2013 for developing AMOLED panel technology and is expected to add another US$3-5 billion in 2014 amid increasing market prospects for the technology.The company also has intentions to expand flexible AMOLED display 6G production facilities by the end of 2014, which is likely to add another 9,000 substrates of monthly production capacity for the technology, said Digitimes Research, adding that Samsung will also invest in Ultra HD TV panel technology.Samsung's overall revenues from AMOLED panels are expected to be higher than those for LCD technology in 2014.LG Display meanwhile also plans to make over US$3 billion in capital expenditures for developing Ultra HD TV panel technology as well as 8G facilities for AMOLED TV panels and 6G facilities for developing LPTS handset panels.Taiwan-based AU Optronics (AUO) and Japan-based Sharp plan capex budgets of US$670 in 2014, while Innolux is expected to make US$830 million, showing that Korea-based makers are taking more initiatives to develop Ultra HD and AMOLED TV technology in 2014, added Digitimes Research.

Taiwan LCD TV makers' shipments reached 7.53 million units in the first quarter of 2014, down 20.8% on quarter, according to Digitimes Research.The decline marks the 9th consecutive quarter Taiwan makers have seen their shipments drop.Shipments to Asia dropped largely due to a decline in orders from China-based TV vendor Haier, according to Digitimes Research's freshly published quarterly Taiwan FPD Tracker report on TV shipments.About 14.7% of the makers' shipments were for 50-inch and above size units while shipments for 32-inch units declined due to decrease panel production capacity in the segment from Taiwan panel makers.TPV Technology, Hon Hai Precision Industry and Compal were the top three makers in Taiwan in terms of shipments during the first quarter, said Digitimes Research.Looking to the second quarter, the makers' shipments are expected to increase to 9.1 million units, added Digitimes Research.

There were 20.4 million white-box tablets shipped globally in the first quarter of 2014, decreasing by 27.4% on quarter and by 2.4% on year, according to Digitimes Research.The decrease in shipments was mainly because most white-box vendors are based in China and there were fewer working days in the first quarter due to the Lunar New Year holidays, Digitimes Research pointed out.Of the shipments, 7-inch models accounted for 70.5%, 7.85/7.9-inch ones 21.3%, 8- to 9-inch ones 4.2%, above 9- to 10-inch 2.9%, above 10-inch 1.1%.Due to strong demand in emerging markets including India, Indonesia, Thailand, Russia and Eastern Europe, global white-box tablet shipments in the second quarter of 2014 will increase 14.2% on quarter and 45.6% on year to 23.3 million units.